The upcoach podcast 08. Harnessing Group Connection and Engagement Effectively
Join us for a dynamic chat with the exceptional leader for entrepreneurs, Shawn Shepheard. We traverse his fruitful career in the coaching sphere, focusing on his unique mission to assist family-owned business owners and their leadership teams in attaining the next level of growth without the burnout of working around the clock. We also unpack a revolutionary concept: the power of congregating your best clients in the same room. Shawn regales us with his experiences of his first virtual event and the profound impact of connecting with clients through technology.
We also explore the challenges of sustaining potent connections beyond an event, along with the concept of nurturing a group that remains connected, supports each other, and fosters healthy competition. Listen as Shawn sheds light on his innovative approaches, such as the Leadership Olympics and One Month Challenge, which have proven successful in cultivating connection and engagement within his group. We also dissect the merits of competition in constructing a new culture, a common language, and encouraging a friendly rivalry that ultimately aids in retaining people who desire to stay connected to Shawn’s world. You won't want to miss these insights from one of the industry's best.
*The upcoach podcast is produced by Ventures FM.*
Episode Quotes:
The people he serves and how he helps them
I work with family-owned business owners and their leadership teams, companies that have gotten to a certain point of growth, so not beginner companies or startups, and they get to a certain level of growth that you know, in the words of Marshall Goldsmith, what got them here will not get them to the next level, and they don't know what to do next. I help them get to the next level without working 24 seven.
The magic in group connection
So people love groups. When we meet live in person, there's a genuine human connection. When you break bread with people, the relationship changes; when they sit down and work together and get to know each other and their issues and their problems and their dreams and their challenges. My challenge was how do I make that last after one day or two days of the event because we've all gone to events, even small, intimate groups, and then nothing. You wake up on the third day, and it's kind of sad. I would walk by the meeting room in the hotel and feel like, oh my God, yesterday we were just laughing and joking. So, the question was always like, how do you keep that? Because it works. The magic of the group works. The accountability, the connection, the friendship, all of those things work. But how do we keep it going past the event? How do we make that lasting connection and real change? So number one, they want to be connected. Number two, they want to support each other in whatever dream and vision they have. And number three, they want to be held accountable by me and others. And number four, especially with my clients or with peak performers, they're super competitive. So, when I actually put them into a group that doesn't end at the end of two days, where they can go in and connect, where they can get updates with me, where they could share their wins which is the biggest thing, and they could share their challenges and see they're not alone between sessions, is powerful.
A simple thing to implement in group dynamics
Bring the people that love you and who you serve together. I hear a lot of coaches that are struggling reach out to me, and that's the number one thing I say. Do you do anything where you bring them together? Have they ever met each other? Let them meet each other. Bring them together and give them a challenge to rise to.